As the name of this thread suggests, my husband and I are 26 weeks pregnant and have been planning a montessori-style nursery for our little one. My original idea was just a baby mattress on the floor.

But, I just saw a mouse in my apartment. Never had mice before (or at least, never had EVIDENCE that there was a mouse here before!), so now I'm kindaaaa freaking out.

We're very tidy and don't leave food around. I searched through all of my food-storage areas and there is no signs of a way for mice to get in / signs of mice being there. But we do live in an old brownstone apartment building by a lovely park, so it doesn't shock me to see a field mouse in my house during the winter. And honestly, it doesn't bother ME that much, when I'm just talking about my husband and my dog and I. I have humane traps to trap them, and it'll be fine.

But the floor bed! What should I do about it? Is it no longer a safe solution if there is any chance of a mouse running around the nursery? Would a floor bed frame (like the one from Lord Co.) work to keep any critters off of the mattress? Or what about a toddler bed with the legs chopped off so it's much lower? Ideas, please! I don't want to abandon this whole philosophy and the floor bed because of this!

I can relate. I HATE having mice in my house. Thankfully, we've only had about 3 total in the past 4 years all of which we were able to catch within a day or two and knew roughly where they were when we couldn't get to them. At night I would close our bedroom door AND put duct tape underneath to block the 1/4" gap into the room completely. (My husband thought I was crazy.) We also had a squirrel in our house once for a couple hours... Still have no idea how that happened, unless it walked in the front door.

Not only do our children sleep on a floor bed, but the entire family does. (It's kind of a long story not having anything to do with Montessori. My husband and I just didn't like our plastic-y student housing bed in graduate school and our bedroom was hot, so we slept slumber party style in the living room. Then when we bought a house we were just too cheap to buy a bed frame, which worked out well when we decided to co-sleep with our kids.) My son goes to a Montessori preschool now, but that's just coincidence.

Anyway, I don't really have any suggestions, other than to try not to freak out. Mice are gross, but they're not really permanent house guests and as long as they don't become a major issue, you can make other arrangements when you do find evidence of them in your house (like bringing the child into your bed and sealing off the door despite eye-rolls from members of the opposite sex).

Also, this wouldn't work for everyone, but we got an indoor cat about a year ago. She hasn't caught anything as far as I know, but we haven't any rodents in our house since.

I go through this yearly in the fall when they take shelter in my basement. We actually refer to it as 'the condos'. Although, I let a gross yet sweet snake stay in the condos and I have fewer mice. ^_^

We have cats on patrol...but they aren't a reliable workforce.

I think, considering the pregnancy, new baby, sanity. ..go to the herbal/tea/hippie store get peppermint, spearmint, and muslin bags...fill and stuff them everywhere (replacing the dried herbs every couple of months). Clean with vinegar...everywhere! Toilets, floors, walls...fill a spray bottle with vinegar and water to wash ceilings, lamps...you can put peppermint oil in it so it isn't so bad. Also consider a defused with peppermint.
Don't let any pee or poo sit...I don't think you would but life being life...

There are other essential oils (clove I think) but I find peppermint makes me the most comfortable in my home.

But the floor bed! What should I do about it? Is it no longer a safe solution if there is any chance of a mouse running around the nursery? Would a floor bed frame (like the one from Lord Co.) work to keep any critters off of the mattress? Or what about a toddler bed with the legs chopped off so it's much lower? Ideas, please! I don't want to abandon this whole philosophy and the floor bed because of this!

Unfortunately, no, a frame may not help. We had a rat one time (similar situation to yours - empty field next door, and they came inside for shelter during the winter), and we slept on a futon on a frame about 9" off the floor. It ran over me in the middle of the night one night. *shudder*

I'm not sure that makes it inherently unsafe, just yucky to think about.

Mice generally don't run across the center of the floor - they're more likely to stick to the walls as much as possible. So, if you can put the mattress at least a foot from the walls on each side, it would probably help. I'd also wait to implement the floor bed until the baby at least reaches the crawling stage (at which point a mouse isn't likely to be an actual safety risk), which is when it starts to really matter from a montessori standpoint anyways. That also gives you more time to work on eliminating the mice with traps or whatever before you need the room childproof.

These responses are making me wish I didn't have a dog who hated cats, or a husband who was afraid of snakes!

Thanks for the reassuring words though. I think putting it in a frame and keeping it away from the wall will help probably. The dried herbs are also a great suggestion. I already clean with vinegar, so I will give all the walls and floors and such a good wipe-down. Cosleeping will likely be a big part of our life as a companion to the floor bed, so I guess winter time will be snuggle-party time if we continue to have a mouse problem!

It probably depends on the breed and temperament of your dog, but we already had a black lab when we first got our kitten. Obviously, being a lab, she's not an aggressive dog, but they didn't get along for the first few weeks (lots of barking and hissing and even growling (from the cat)). However, now they are absolutely the cutest pair in the entire world and spend half the day cuddled next to each other.